“In the lives of each one of us there will still be moments of weakness and failures, of what we call paralysis. They can last for many years, just as with the paralytic at the Sheep pool, of which the Gospel speaks. This paralytic lay for many years awaiting healing. But he believed that a messenger of God would come and heal him.”

Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) is from the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, Russia.

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As Jesus said, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (St. Matthew 5)

Most who speak of socialization have in mind the incorporation of children into society’s norms. In the field of service to persons with developmental disability, this is called normalization.

But Orthodox Christians seek for themselves and their children and those they love socialization into the Kingdom of God and it’s “norms.” Turning from sin, trusting God in the midst of personal loss and grief, and sympathetically sorrowing for the sins and stumblings of those around us are indeed aspects of this Way of Life in Christ.

We seek socialization “above” (Colossians 3) rather than socialization below- the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Albert Raboteau, a Professor at Princeton University and an Orthodox Christian, shares some thoughts on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts to uphold the very traditional Christian understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ’s support for concerted Christian attention and loving works of faith on behalf of people who are suffering, needy, and poor. Here they are:

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St. Guy of Anderlecht is counted as an intercessor for persons with epilepsy and also for hydrophobia (the fear of water) and rabies. He was a simple, poor farmer who became a sacristan (caretaker of the room where ecclesiastical vestments and sacred vessels are kept). He made an investment, but the cargo went down with the ship in the harbor; he blamed himself for being greedy, repented, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and later to Jerusalem, where he eventually served as a guide to other pilgrims. While returning home, he died. Sources:

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World Vision is not a specifically Orthodox Christian mission, but they are partnering with the Georgian Orthodox Church to address human needs in Georgia. See Page 2 on the following report for a short but informative article on The Almost Lost Generation: Children with Disabilities: http://meero.worldvision.org/docs/49.pdf

On Page 20 of this report, there is a short section describing the Church’s efforts at meeting the needs of people with disabilities. But they do not specify the Orthodox Church, and it is not likely that their study was comprehensive in terms of what the Church is doing.

Pro-Vita Association – A Romanian Orthodox Christian Ministry for single mothers and their children, street children and orphans. Father Nicholas also writes on behalf of the pro-life cause in Romania.http://www.valeaplopului.com/ (Romanian Language)

Preoteasa should be translated Priest’s wife, not priestess. But generally the title remains as it is in Orthodox Christian practice. So one would address her as “Preoteasa Maria.” For more on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterao